After a thrilling end to the high school football season last week that saw the Valencia Vikings win their fourth-consecutive Foothill League title, Hart and Saugus joined the Vikings with playoff berths.
In the eight-man playoffs, the Trinity Knights and the Santa Clarita Christian Cardinals earned placements in Division 1 and Division 2, respectively, with both teams set to begin their runs next week.
Here’s a look at this week’s first-round matchups:
Valencia at La Serna
Following a Foothill League championship-winning season, the Vikings (8-2, 6-0) were placed in the Division 3 playoffs as the 16th seed.
On Friday, the Vikings are set to match up against the top-seeded La Serna Lancers (9-1, 5-0) of Whittier and face a tough matchup as Valencia looks to break a run of four-straight first-round losses in the playoffs.
Going into Friday’s matchup, the Vikings ended the season as the No. 43 ranked team in the Southern Section, according to the California Interscholastic Federation’s end-of-season rankings. La Serna ended the season as the No. 28 ranked team and are champions of the Gateway League
If the Vikings want to pull out the first-round upset, the Vikings’ defense will need to stop quarterback Grady Long, who has thrown 26 touchdowns and 2,310 yards through the air.
The Vikings will look for their backfield to lead them in sophomore quarterback Evan McCalister, who has thrown 24 touchdowns and over 2,000 yards, and senior running back Nico Funez, who ended the regular season with 20 rushing touchdowns and 1,245 yards on the ground.
Friday’s first-round matchup between the Lancers and the Vikings is scheduled for kick off at 7 p.m. at La Serna High School in Whittier.
Hart at Quartz Hill
While the Hawks (8-2, 5-1) did not capture their first Foothill League title since 2007 in last week’s title decider against Valencia, Hart still can make history in the postseason.
This season, the Hawks will look to win their first CIF-SS championship since 2013 and will look to do so in Division 4.
In the first round, the Hawks will travel up to the Antelope Valley and match up against the Quartz Hill Royals (9-1, 3-0), who are ranked as the No. 2 seeded- team in Division 4. As for Hart, the Hawks entered this year’s playoffs as the No. 15 seeded team and are underdogs for the first round.
This week, the Hawks will look for Matix Frithsmith, who led the Foothill League in rushing yards and total touchdowns, to lead Hart to a playoff win.
If the Hawks want to advance to the next round, the Hawks will need to stop the high-scoring Royals offense, which averaged 39.2 points per game in the regular season, to have a chance in Friday’s first-round contest.
Friday’s first-round matchup between the Hawks and the Royals is scheduled for kickoff at 7 p.m. at Quartz Hill High School in the Antelope Valley.
Saugus at Citrus Valley
Following a semifinal finish in last season’s Division 7 playoffs, the Saugus Centurions (7-3, 4-2) are back in the postseason looking to recapture last year’s magic.
This year, the Centurions are back in the Division 7 playoffs and will travel to the Redlands for a matchup against the Citrus Valley Black Hawks (8-2, 3-2), who finished the season as the No. 3 ranked team in the bracket. The Centurions are the No. 14 ranked team in the Division 7 playoffs.
The Centurions will face an uphill battle as the team is in line to record the most mileage out of any of the local Foothill League teams with 99 miles between Saugus and Citrus Valley High Schools.
But if Saugus wants to pull out for the win on Friday, the team will rely on its two-quarterback system in junior Brayden Connelly and freshman Zach Barnes.
Both quarterbacks are expected to rely on their backfield with Jeremiah Caradine and Mono Ortega with help with yardage along with Landon Lattimore, who has tallied 14 touchdown receptions this season, as a trusted target in the pass game.
Friday’s first-round matchup between the Blackhawks and Centurions is scheduled for kickoff at 7 p.m. at Citrus Valley High School in Redlands.
Trinity at Chadwick
After making the transition from 11-person to eight-person football, the Knights (6-3, 3-1) made most of their opportunity and earned an at-large bid into the Division 1 playoffs.
For the first round, the Knights will hit the road and match up against the Chadwick Dolphins of Palos Verdes, who finished the season 7-2 overall and are ranked as the No. 6 eight-man team in the state of California, according to MaxPreps.
The first-round matchup between the Knights and Dolphins won’t be the first between both teams this season. Earlier this year, the teams matched up at Chadwick School with the Dolphins winning 36-21.
Although the Knights fell on the road, Trinity has won four-straight games since and will look to bounce back in next week’s first-round matchup against the Dolphins on Nov. 13 at Chadwick School with kickoff scheduled at 1 p.m.
Santa Clarita Christian
The road to an eight-man Division 2 championship runs through Santa Clarita Christian School.
After a third-place finish in the Heritage League standings, the Cardinals (4-5, 1-3) earned an at-large bid and were placed as the top-ranked seed in the Division 2 standings.
With the top-ranked seed, the Cardinals will kick off their playoff campaign next week on Nov. 13 for the quarterfinals, with the team awarded a bye in the first round.
The Cardinals will look to play against either Southlands Christian or Milken Community in the quarterfinals with Santa Clarita Christian hosting the winner in the quarterfinals.
